Job Search

Sometimes it seems like Cami and I have spent our entire adult lives looking for work. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that every time we get settled down, find good work, and start to feel comfortable, we move. Over the past 6 years that we have been married, Camilla and I have lived in Monterey, San Diego and Sacramento. I have changed jobs 5 times (2 real jobs and 3 crap jobs), and Camilla has changed jobs 3 times (all student type jobs). We both agree that it is time to settle down and try to get some stability in our lives.

Now at the tender ages of 31 and 29, respectively, we are both undertaking our umpteenth self-imposed job quest, this time in Sweden. Since we hope to be able to live in the same house without being stuck with a horrible commute, Camilla has let me look for my job first, so that she will be able to focus her search on the part of the country that we actually end up living in. It appears now that we will be living in Stockholm, so Camilla is polishing off her curriculum vitae and getting some cover letters ready to send.

I have had excellent luck in getting interviews, even though my spoken and written Swedish skills still have much to be desired. In the past three months, I have had 5 interviews with some excellent companies and organizations. Unfortunately, things didn't work out, at least not yet, with the companies that I am really interested in. It's hard to say if I didn't get those jobs because I suck at job interviews (which I suspect), or because my background didn't fit their needs (which is what they told me). I did land a 6 month, half-time job with the Kungliga Tekniska Hogskola (Royal Institute of Technology) in Stockholm, performing a study of the relationship between environmental laws and the development of Sweden's energy industries. I also managed to work out a deal with my previous employer, whereby I can telecommute at my old job half-time similar to the way a consultant might work (What can I say, I have the world's greatest boss).

What do our future employment prospects look like? Well, it is very hard to say what we will end up doing. I am looking for something in the electric power industry because that is what my education and work experience is most suited for. There are lots of exciting changes happening in that industry. It has recently been deregulated the way the phone companies were, and the people of Sweden have voted to shut down all of the nuclear power plants in the country.

Camilla is looking for something that fits with her biology degree. She would love, more than anything, to work with, or study, animals (preferably happy, live animals). However, the good jobs in the biology field are few and far between, and the jobs that are out there don't pay much. Camilla is also looking into working for a pharmaceutical company. It seems that there are jobs to be found, but we don't know whether or not you have to have a Ph.D. to get a biology job with one of them.

We'll keep you posted.